Mom detained in Dubai after drinking complimentary glass of wine on Emirates flight | Fox News

A mother from Kent, England, and her young daughter were jailed in Dubai for three days ***8211; where she was allegedly denied water and forced to clean toilets ***8211; after she admitted to drinking a glass of wine on the incoming Emirates flight from London.

It***8217;s illegal to drink alcohol or be intoxicated in public in Dubai, one of the seven emirates of the United Arab Emirates.

Ellie Holman, a 44-year-old dentist originally from Sweden who resides in Britain with her husband and their three children, was arrested on July 13 after landing in Dubai with her 4-year-old daughter, the Press Association reported.

Upon arrival in Dubai, an official reportedly told Holman she needed to return to the United Kingdom immediately because of an invalid visa, at which point she took out her phone and started filming the encounter, according to human rights group Detained in Dubai.

Holman said the official was ***8220;dismissive and rude***8221; to her, and asked if she had been consuming alcohol. She admitted to the official that she had a complementary glass of wine on the Emirates flight.

Holman, unaware that it was an offense to film the encounter, and illegal to drink alcohol, was taken into custody, Detained in Dubai reported. The mother and her daughter also had their passports and electronic devices confiscated.

Holman said in a statement to Detained in Dubai that the prison guards also attempted to pull out her hair extensions, and the prison facility was ***8220;hot and foul-smelling.***8221; She claimed she and her daughter were forced to sleep on a ***8220;filthy mattress***8221; and to clean toilets.

***8220;My little girl had to go to the toilet on the cell floor. I have never heard her cry in the same way as she did in that cell,***8221; Holman said in a statement.

Holman added that she was given food that ***8220;smelled like rotting garbage.***8221; She said her husband and friends tried to visit her in jail, but they were not allowed to see her.

Holman was released on bail days later, but could face ***8220;being detained in Dubai for up to a year while awaiting a court hearing,***8221; The Guardian reported. Her passport was confiscated until the case is finished, and she claims to have already lost thousands of dollars in missed wages and legal costs.

Her daughter returned to the United Kingdom with her husband.

Holman was initially traveling to Dubai with her to daughter to visit friends for a few days. She has been in the country before.

A representative for Emirates was not immediately available to answer questions regarding the consumption of alcohol on flights entering Dubai.

Radha Stirling, Detained in Dubai***8217;s chief executive, said it is ***8220;wholly illegal for any tourist to have any level of alcohol in their blood, even if consumed in flight and provided by Dubai***8217;s own airline. It is illegal to consume alcohol at a bar, a hotel and a restaurant, and if breathalyzed, that person will be jailed."

However, Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade says that being intoxicated, and not neccessarily just having a small amount of alcohol in your system, is what's actually forbidden, according to News.com.au.

***8220;It***8217;s illegal to drink alcohol or be intoxicated in public,***8221; the department states. ***8220;You can be arrested. Foreigners have been arrested on arrival after becoming intoxicated on incoming aircraft or while in transit.***8221;

Yeah, **** that place.

What a funny place - wouldn't it be great to be there

lol the comments - maybe NGFM posts there

Wow. What mother takes her daughter to an Arab country with a dubious visa to chill with friends? What fantasy is this broad living in? Sounds like a typical liberal, and hopefully the daughter grows up to be a conservative with a whole lot more common sense. NOBODY in their right mind wastes money in a place like Dubai when there are safe, family-friendly options available. Bad mother, IMO.

I am not ashamed to say that I am glad that woman got a dose of reality. People from the west are pretty ****ish with their behavior. Oblivious to the fact that in other places in the world they would be raped and dead. Maybe she will go home and think a little harder about immigration and the protection of freedom.

Yeah obviously the glass of wine that did it. Fox News says so

Originally Posted by ArakAtak

lol the comments - maybe NGFM posts there

I dunno who h8s hoes more, dubai or NGFM

Locked up like a border jumping Mexican. Play dumb games, win dumb prizes.

Stay out of Muslim countries if you can't understand that you have to follow their fundamentalist garbage to the letter. Why the **** you'd take your children to a place where you're all infidels is beyond me.

stay dafuq outta mozlem scumfukholes n ya wont b runnin inta trubble lykka disndumfuk**** dun smdh lol

Surely the airline have some responsibility in this?

I mean, even at altitude there's responsible service of alcohol... which should extend to "if you drink this and go here you're probably ****ed" too?

Something doesn't quite add up...

Originally Posted by Flipp

stay dafuq outta mozlem scumfukholes n ya wont b runnin inta trubble lykka disndumfuk**** dun smdh lol

She tried to video the customs guy, was probably behaving like a drunk, entitled, stuck up cow and now she pays for it.

Of course any normal place would leave her till she sobers up and then stick her back on a plane.

Did she legally set foot into the Emirate? If you haven't cleared customs (which she didn't due to visa issues) then you haven't yet entered the country so you are probably under international law or something anyway.

Stupid sand box mitch place, ****ish people, turn the place into a big glass ashtray pls

Woman probably would've been fine if she hadn't tried to film the encounter and be an entitled **** to the visa official.

Not everywhere is as free and open as the West. You can still get wrecked by acting disrespectfully in many countries, which a lot of morons don't get, as in their mind, we're HORRIBLY oppressed in the West. *****es need to get over themselves and be thankful for what they have.

All that said, travel to somewhere where it's illegal to drink? LOL no thx, first-world only with no rule by idiotic religious bull****, thanks.

Originally Posted by Mitchdubai

Yeah obviously the glass of wine that did it. Fox News says so

I think most people read this story and think "Don't be an obnoxious twat and know the laws of the country you're visiting."

Originally Posted by Mitchdubai

Yeah obviously the glass of wine that did it. Fox News says so

Exactly, she's just another lying liberal probably downed a whole bottle before she even got on the plane.

Who knew Dubai treated women like ****?

thats what you get going to a **** whole country

mitch is a piece of ****

Thats entrapment